Camera Talk

The supervisors of Botetourt County, VA have chosen to move the former slave quarters and cook house at the Greenfield Center for Industry to another area of the park for display, so they can erect a new shell building on spec, hoping to lure more businesses.

One of the descendants of the slaves that worked the plantation has filed an injunction to halt all preparation because there are unmarked graves in the vicinity of the buildings. A judge put a hold on any injunction, giving the county and the contractor thirty days to respond. In the meantime, work continues on the removal.

The Cook House and Slave Quarters

Greenfield Plantation Slave Buildings by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Slave Quarters by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Cook House by P F McFarland, on Flickr



What will replace the Slave Quarters and Cook House

Industry by P F McFarland, on Flickr

See all the photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHsktdrdNC

PF

Shot as Redscale on Kodak Hawkeye Surveillance ti2420 in a Canon AF35M

'Slave Quarters' is fantastic Phil. Beautiful light and shadows.

BillyBob wrote:'Slave Quarters' is fantastic Phil. Beautiful light and shadows.

Thanks. I specifically chose that time of day for the light.

PF

Awesome subject and +1 on "Slave Quarters". The light is outstanding. The general view in the first one is also excellent.

Progress must go on, but I hope that the new location is as good as this one (and that the public can visit it).

I don't know as they have a place to put them yet, Julio. They're more interested in getting the buildings out than making any cohesive display out of them.

PF

The buildings have been moved from their original locations, and set on another hilltop in basically the same orientation. Hopefully the county follows through with their promise to restore the buildings.

The path to the new location. It came through the parking lot for the trailhead.


Long Way Up by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Cook House by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Slave Quarters by P F McFarland, on Flickr



The buildings used to stand on a spot just to the right of center, in among those trees. Though the road was just below the hill, to the left, they had to be moved to the right where the slope was gentler, looping around to a spot behind where I was standing for this photo where they came out onto the two-lane. The road then splits at the bottom of the hill into four-lane divided, and they were trucked down the wrong way side so that traffic to the industries would not be disrupted, traveling on the other half of the road.


Former Placement by P F McFarland, on Flickr

This will all be flattened to make way for a shell building, which the county hopes will attract a new business.


Soon To Be Gone by P F McFarland, on Flickr

PF

Production Note:

Nikon N90s with AF Nikkor 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6D
Kodak Ektar 100
ISO was accidentally set for 400, so these were all grossly underexposed. I was able to recover them in PS Elements 10, though there is quite a bit of noise in the skies, and “Slave Quarters” in general.

Pretty amazing that they think it's worthwhile to tear up history on spec. But I guess somebody's benefiting from the work anyway. Glad you were there to record it.

Robert

Thanks for keeping the record, PF. Glad to see that the wood houses were indeed moved. It looks like a serious idea.